2011 Fastcase Luminary Award Winners

This year Fastcase was the proud sponsor of the National Association of Bar Executives Luminary awards. The Luminary awards are a way to highlight exceptional communications by bar associations nationwide. Every year the Luminary Awards Committee searches the country for top talent based on the insight and guidance of those working in the field. The winners this year were selected based on their innovative and thoughtful work that raises the bar—pun intended, in both functionality and aesthetics.

Excellence In Public Relations:

Louisville Bar Association (Small Bar)

Recognized for their rebranded campaign to reposition the bar association as a learning/resource center for the community and to reinvigorate members’ energy and excitement by taking a fresh, modern approach to a century-old organization.

From the Judges: “Great Graphic design. The materials are fresh and appealing. A 30 percent increase in public service program enrollment is impressive.”

Connecticut Bar Association (Medium Bar)

Recognized for its “Spotlight on Civics,” a yearlong civics engagement campaign.

From the Judges: “This is an exceptional example of a comprehensive public relations campaign. From research, to involving all the right players, to materials development and resulting media coverage, just an outstanding effort to increase awareness about the importance of civics education. Well done!”

Virginia State Bar Madonna G. Dersch (Large Bar)

Recognized for its “Spare the Child” video, which educates the public to better understand and navigate the process of family dissolution.

From the Judges: “Great job producing a video that speaks to an issue many families are facing today. The quality of the video was impressive, as was its message. Nothing lacking in this entry.“

Recognized for special marketing promotion of its annual Bench Bar Conference.

From the Judges: “Very integrated branding effort; I love it when a plan comes together…EVENT SOLD OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME!”

New Hampshire Bar Association Communications Department (Medium Bar)

Recognized for its “Kickstart Your Recovery Campaign for Advertising Development.”

From the Judges: “Making money in this economy is almost a miracle and the two staffers did it. A super (and courageous) idea to cut ad prices, offer more, and then market the heck out it with good looking pieces. A winner in my book.”

Colorado Bar Association Communications & Marketing (Large Bar)

Recognized for its successful Membership Campaign.

From the Judges: “This campaign is the epitome of a well-done marketing campaign. It is extremely well thought out, designed, and effective. Facing the challenge of membership during economic hardship head-on, the bar created a model example program.”

Excellence in Website Design

State Bar of Arizona receives a Luminary Award from the President of Fastcase Phil Rosenthal.

Fairfax Bar Association (Small Bar)

From the Judges: “Overall the site has a very clean look to it (and just to try it, I looked at it on my iPhone & it was so easy to read & move around – great job!) and easy to navigate. Excellent use of featured content sections on the homepage to highlight services and content.”

San Diego County Bar Association (Medium Bar)

From the Judges: “Overall the website is really clean, with great use of white space, while still getting the massive amount of information that all bar associations seem to have across to the audience. I REALLY like the upcoming calendar of events on the right-hand side of the pages, and the CLE calendar is pretty integrated & it’s great that you can add the event into your outlook calendar.”

State Bar of Arizona Rick DeBruhl (Large Bar)

“Nicely organized, attractive site. Very nice handling of the site’s dual audiences —members and the public. Compelling visuals and type with an easy-to-navigate structure; has zero visual clutter, a strong hierarchy and no information overload to slow access to the content; good color contrast.”

From the Judges: “Wow! This publication could easily hold its own with the largest bar associations. The fact that it cost $800 to produce is astounding. The design is very appealing and is a really interesting example of how to make a blog more magazine-like. This nomination truly deserves an award and it would be a benefit to the NABE community at large to see it.”

Denver Bar Association Communications & Marketing (Medium Bar)

“Nice design. They did a nice job of mixing in information beyond just bar news in the issues that I browsed. I liked the writing tips from a Hollywood scandal.”

Colorado Bar Association Communications & Marketing (Large Bar)

“This e-publication is a clear winner, and I can think of no improvements. The articles are written by lawyer volunteers (great for increasing a feeling of ownership of their bar) and of good quality. The masthead is magnificent, beautifully bridging between the solo state of mind and the big city feel of a bar association. Love the tagline: Practice as One; Connect as a Community.”

Special Publications

Oakland County Bar Association (Small Bar)

Recognized for the Military Veterans Speaker’s Bureau.

From the Judges: “Very worthwhile project and one that can easily expand! Great use of resources in keeping it primarily web-based. Informative, nice & clean. Good logos/colors. Easily met objectives.”

Indiana State Bar Association (Medium Bar)

Recognized for the Indiana State Bar Association Young Lawyers Section.

From the Judges: “Solid product with a lot of good information for the public. Interior has clean, easy-to-read layout. Good, helpful information and great topics — perfect for its audience.”

State Bar of Arizona Communications Staff (Large Bar)

From the Judges: “A lot of information packed into a four-page annual report. Great idea to use snapshot format —gets right to the point. Clean layout. Great job! It paints a great picture of the bar and demonstrates to members the bar’s commitments for the coming years.”

Regular Publications

Wyoming State Bar Sharon Wilkinson (Small Bar)

From the Judges: “A very attractive publication! Great use of technology (drop shadows, etc.) and elements are extremely consistent throughout. Loved the 1st Feature pages!! Excellent effort by small staff.“

San Diego County Bar Association (Medium Bar)

Recognized for The San Diego Lawyer publication.

From the Judges: “This is a nice, creative pub — from the photo gallery pages that use volunteer photographers to the covers that creatively highlight bar members doing work that fits with Bar initiatives. Staff are obviously taking a lot of time to create such a consistently attractive magazine. It reminds me of the city itself: warm, bright and airy. Very well done. “

From the Judges: “This is a very attractive, colorful publication features a clean design that nicely complements its blend of advocacy articles, informational pieces and the occasional lighter feature. Not only does this excellent publication actually make a profit, it does so with a minimal number of staff members. Superior work!

The Winners!

The Winners:

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